The suspension of entry into the U.S. covers citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries, mainly in the Middle East. Comments by Trump indicating that he would exempt members of Christian minorities in those countries have fueled accusations that the measure specifically targets Muslims.

However, the travel ban does not include a few other important Middle-Eastern countries, also with a Muslim majority. To assume, as some have done, that the latter countries were exempted because the Trump Organization has vested business interests there would be to ignore former vice president Joe Biden's parting advice: “Question a man’s judgment, not his motives”.

The ostensible motive of Trump's executive order is "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry". However, as pointed out by CNN's Fareed Zakaria on his show GPS, the total tally of Americans killed on U.S. soil by nationals of any of the seven countries is... zero. Or, as he quoted the list in full: "Iraq – zero, Iran – zero, Syria – zero, Yemen – zero, Libya – zero, Somalia – zero, Sudan – zero".

The figures quoted by Zakaria were produced by the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank. Comparing those figures to those of some countries left off the banned list: "That number for Saudi Arabia is 2,369, for the UAE is 314, for Egypt is 162, according to CATO," Zakaria says.

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